is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

, Japan. , the city had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 47,272 in 22,599 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 270 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Shima hosted the 2016 G7 Summit.

Geography

Shima is located on the southern half of Shima Peninsula in far eastern Mie Prefecture, facing

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie and Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the smaller Mikawa Bay by two channels: th ...

of the Pacific Ocean. The city has a complicated

ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

s coast with two large inlets: Matoya Bay and

Ago Bay is a bay in the city of Shima, Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Ise-Shima region. The bay is known for its beauty and sees many tourists each year, in particular due to a train network owned by Kintetsu which runs trains from both Os ...

. Matoya Bay is famous for

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

cultivation and Ago Bay is famous for

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

cultivation. Both are sightseeing spots and all of the city is within the borders of the

Ise-Shima National Park is a national park in Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is characterized by its ria coast and islands scattered around a number of bays. The interior is hilly with Mount Asama-ga-take ( the highest peak. Natural areas * Ago Bay * Kami-shima * Kashiko ...

. Shima has three inhabited islands; Watakano Island,

Kashiko Island is an island in Ago Bay. It is in the city of Shima, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The island was uninhabited until the 1920s when a railway built by Shima Electric Railway (now known as the Shima Line) was constructed to serve as the endpoint of the ...

and Masaki Island. Watakano Island is located in Matoya Bay, and the others are in Ago Bay.

Neighboring municipalities

Mie Prefecture *

Ise Ise may refer to: Places * Ise, Mie, a city in Japan **Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie * Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria *Ise, Norway, a village in Norway *Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan * River Ise, a tributary of th ...

Toba Toba may refer to: Languages * Toba Sur language, spoken in South America * Batak Toba, spoken in Indonesia People * Toba people, indigenous peoples of the Gran Chaco in South America * Toba Batak people, a sub-ethnic group of Batak people from ...

* Minamiise

Climate

Shima has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Shima is 16.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1965 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Shima has decreased rapidly over the past 20 years.

History

All of Shima was within the borders of ancient

Shima Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan which consisted of a peninsula in the southeastern part of modern Mie Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Shima''" in . Its abbreviated name was . Shima bordered on Ise ...

. With the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the town of Waga and villages of Katada, Fuseda, Koshiga, and Goza were established. The town of Shima was established on December 1, 1954 by ten merger of these municipalities. Shima was raised to city status on October 1, 2004, from the merger of the former town of Shima with the towns of Ago, Daiō, Hamajima and Isobe (all from Shima District). Recently there has been anger from its famous divers aimed at its sexist new tourist mascot.

Government

Shima has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

city council of 20 members. Shima contributes two members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Mie 4th district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Economy

Commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

and tourism play important roles in the local economy.

Education

Shima has seven public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Mie Prefectural Department of Education. There is also one private high school.

Transportation

Railway

20px

Kintetsu Railway , referred to as , is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railway network connects Osaka, Nara, Kyot ...

Shima Line The is a railway line in Mie Prefecture, Japan, operated by private railway operator Kintetsu Railway, connecting Toba Station in Toba with Kashikojima Station in Shima. The line connects with the Toba Line at Toba Station. The Yamada Line, T ...

* - - - - - - - -

Highways

* Iseshima Skyline * *

Local attractions

Two of Japan's fifteen climbable lighthouses are located in Shima: Anorisaki and Daiosaki. Each was featured in the

location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for exam ...

of two prominent films of the 1950's, Anorisaki in Kinoshita's

Times of Joy and Sorrow ''Times of Joy and Sorrow'' (USA title), ''The Lighthouse'' (UK title), or , is a 1957 color Japanese film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, who shot on location at 10 different lighthouses throughout Japan, including opening scenes at Kannonzaki, ...

(1957) and Daiosaki in Ozu's

Floating Weeds is a 1959 Japanese drama directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Nakamura Ganjirō II and Machiko Kyō. It is a remake of Ozu's own black-and-white silent film '' A Story of Floating Weeds'' (1934) and considered one of the greatest films ever made. ...

(1959).

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Mie Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan